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Writing Craft #1
Character Arcs: founding, forming & finishing your character's internal journey
WHY DOES YOUR STORY MATTER?
CHARACTER ARCS show the events of our story are worth reading about.
In most works of fiction, the major characters don’t just experience the events of the plot--the story changes them. They learn and grow, ultimately succeeding at the climax of the story because of all they’ve gained. Even the greatest plot in the world can ring flat if the character’s internal journey isn’t dramatic enough. For a character to truly resonate with readers, he should change and grow over the course of the story.
CHARACTER ARCS will help you:
• Give your readers a powerful experience in any genre.
• Discover your character’s arc: their internal, emotional journey.
• Implement that character arc to make your readers root for your character.
• Keep your story moving by using external plot events to prompt your character’s internal growth.
• Revise your character’s arc for maximum impact.
• PLUS a special chapter on using character arcs in romances, family dramas & other relationship stories.
Far from a write-by-numbers manual, this approach examines the basic mechanics of character change to show you how to apply these principles in your own work, with numerous examples.
Add power and resonance to any story--master character arcs!
CHARACTER ARCS show the events of our story are worth reading about.
In most works of fiction, the major characters don’t just experience the events of the plot--the story changes them. They learn and grow, ultimately succeeding at the climax of the story because of all they’ve gained. Even the greatest plot in the world can ring flat if the character’s internal journey isn’t dramatic enough. For a character to truly resonate with readers, he should change and grow over the course of the story.
CHARACTER ARCS will help you:
• Give your readers a powerful experience in any genre.
• Discover your character’s arc: their internal, emotional journey.
• Implement that character arc to make your readers root for your character.
• Keep your story moving by using external plot events to prompt your character’s internal growth.
• Revise your character’s arc for maximum impact.
• PLUS a special chapter on using character arcs in romances, family dramas & other relationship stories.
Far from a write-by-numbers manual, this approach examines the basic mechanics of character change to show you how to apply these principles in your own work, with numerous examples.
Add power and resonance to any story--master character arcs!
- GenresWritingNonfiction
124 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 27, 2013
19 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
About the author
Jordan McCollum
22 books94 followersAn award-winning author, Jordan McCollum can't resist a story where good defeats evil and true love conquers all. In her day job, she coerces people to do things they don't want to, elicits information and generally manipulates the people she loves most--she's a mom.
Jordan holds a degree in American Studies and Linguistics from Brigham Young University. When she catches a spare minute, her hobbies include reading, knitting and music. She lives with her husband and four children in Utah.
Jordan holds a degree in American Studies and Linguistics from Brigham Young University. When she catches a spare minute, her hobbies include reading, knitting and music. She lives with her husband and four children in Utah.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 24, 2013
Got this book just before diving into NaNoWriMo. The story I want to write is more character driven than plot driven and I wanted to outline a lot of the character arcs beforehand. And then this fell in my laps.
I inhaled this like a diver coming up for air after holding their breath for six minutes (or in my case, about 30 seconds). It was EXACTLY what I needed. Usually when I read books like this, I make little notes in it here and there. You know, some reminders of good information gleamed from the pages. Not this book... rarely did I turn the page without making a mark. This book had a lot of useful information.
What I really liked about it was that it tied really well into my outline. Sure, she explained why you want a character arc, as would be expected. But then she treated building one like building a story outline. In fact, she incorporates the 7-part story structure into this book and how the character should be growing.
She used a lot of useful examples from her works and from others. If you haven't read anything by McCollum, it is okay, it doesn't leave you in the dark. It is just useful to see how these skills have been applied.
If you are looking to breath life into your characters (whether they were underwater for a while or not), then I highly suggest picking this up. It isn't entirely long, which is good. So many people seems to give you what you want to know then drone on uselessly for another hundred pages--probably because the editor insisted on it. Nope, this book was the perfect length.
If this is the first book in a series to improve your writing, I can't wait to see what else she has to share!!
I inhaled this like a diver coming up for air after holding their breath for six minutes (or in my case, about 30 seconds). It was EXACTLY what I needed. Usually when I read books like this, I make little notes in it here and there. You know, some reminders of good information gleamed from the pages. Not this book... rarely did I turn the page without making a mark. This book had a lot of useful information.
What I really liked about it was that it tied really well into my outline. Sure, she explained why you want a character arc, as would be expected. But then she treated building one like building a story outline. In fact, she incorporates the 7-part story structure into this book and how the character should be growing.
She used a lot of useful examples from her works and from others. If you haven't read anything by McCollum, it is okay, it doesn't leave you in the dark. It is just useful to see how these skills have been applied.
If you are looking to breath life into your characters (whether they were underwater for a while or not), then I highly suggest picking this up. It isn't entirely long, which is good. So many people seems to give you what you want to know then drone on uselessly for another hundred pages--probably because the editor insisted on it. Nope, this book was the perfect length.
If this is the first book in a series to improve your writing, I can't wait to see what else she has to share!!
November 15, 2013
This is a great primer on building strong character arcs. McCollum rightfully spends most of her time on the classic "change" arc (basically, the popular Hero's Journey), but she also touches on the lesser understood but no less valid flat and shifting arcs. She brings clarity to the technical aspects of formatting the arc and raises some excellent thoughts for authors to chew on as they ponder crafting their characters' journeys into memorable fiction.
October 23, 2013
This is a MUST-HAVE book for all writers. It is a clear in-depth book on character arcs. I came away with new understanding on how the character arcs are interwoven with the plot, and how to use secondary characters and subplots to illustrate the arc the character must go through. It is easy to understand and read.
December 28, 2023
عنوان کتاب:
فراز و فرودهای شخصیت داستان
پایه ریزی، شکلگیری و به پایان رساندن سیر درونی شخصیت داستان
۲۰۲۳/۱۲/۲۸
۱۴۰۲/۱۰/۷
فراز و فرودهای شخصیت داستان
پایه ریزی، شکلگیری و به پایان رساندن سیر درونی شخصیت داستان
۲۰۲۳/۱۲/۲۸
۱۴۰۲/۱۰/۷
November 30, 2014
Muddled Explanations and Poor Examples
This book on character arc was a disappointment. If you preview the introduction and table of contents, you're led to expect a book with practical advice on creating realistic character arcs and lots of examples from familiar stories and movies. That was emphatically not my reading experience.
The book is more theoretical than practical, and the presentation of the theory is so muddled as to make it difficult to learn much. I have learned more in brief articles on character arc in a magazine such as "Writers Digest" or "The Writer."
The examples are drawn almost exclusively from one soon to be released book by the author and a second non-existent book. The references even to those works merely hand wave. There are no detailed analysis, no prose examples to read and reflect upon.
The one redeeming feature of this book is the brief discussion of negative and flat character arcs. It seems like too many authors who teach story these days feels compelled to discuss Joseph Campbell's theory of the hero without even reading Campbell. As a result, they mystify and jabber and urge the universal applicability of heroic change. Jordan recognizes that there are stories where the protagonist is not undergoing significant personal growth AND these can be interesting, compelling stories, too.
This book on character arc was a disappointment. If you preview the introduction and table of contents, you're led to expect a book with practical advice on creating realistic character arcs and lots of examples from familiar stories and movies. That was emphatically not my reading experience.
The book is more theoretical than practical, and the presentation of the theory is so muddled as to make it difficult to learn much. I have learned more in brief articles on character arc in a magazine such as "Writers Digest" or "The Writer."
The examples are drawn almost exclusively from one soon to be released book by the author and a second non-existent book. The references even to those works merely hand wave. There are no detailed analysis, no prose examples to read and reflect upon.
The one redeeming feature of this book is the brief discussion of negative and flat character arcs. It seems like too many authors who teach story these days feels compelled to discuss Joseph Campbell's theory of the hero without even reading Campbell. As a result, they mystify and jabber and urge the universal applicability of heroic change. Jordan recognizes that there are stories where the protagonist is not undergoing significant personal growth AND these can be interesting, compelling stories, too.
June 24, 2016
The book explains how to create interesting character arcs for your story characters. In the classical arc the character starts out with a flaw that the outer action forces her to see and adjust.
Following this book's guidelines you will end up with a story where the inner and outer journey of your character mirror each other.
The author describes different types of character arcs; positive arcs, flat arcs, negative arcs, as well as how to contrast the main character arc with that of minor characters with similar flaws and different approaches/arcs, and how the arcs of two main characters in a romance could be designed.
All in all a well researched book that offer non-dogmatic insights into the hows and whys of character arcs, as well as an overview of different approaches to the subject.
Following this book's guidelines you will end up with a story where the inner and outer journey of your character mirror each other.
The author describes different types of character arcs; positive arcs, flat arcs, negative arcs, as well as how to contrast the main character arc with that of minor characters with similar flaws and different approaches/arcs, and how the arcs of two main characters in a romance could be designed.
All in all a well researched book that offer non-dogmatic insights into the hows and whys of character arcs, as well as an overview of different approaches to the subject.
July 10, 2014
Nicely explained from idea stage to revisions. I found the answer to my problem in the Non-Character Growth Arcs chapter--glad to know not every character starts from weakness and grows to strengths. Other unusual circumstances are also mentioned. A great resource that I will likely reread.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews